Can I use a 2kW element?

Nizztos · October 10, 2011, 10:54:23 AM

Is it possible to use a 2000W element? This is one of those bendy thingies like the ones in an oven. I'm not after more or faster heat, I just happen to have one laying around. I have also not yet checked if it will actually fit. It would have to be mounted in the bottom of the smoker meaning I would also have to come up with a solution for the catch can.

Other than potential fitment issues (including solving the drip can), would this work? Has someone already tried this with good/bad results?

I would ofcourse use a PID with this.

muebe · October 10, 2011, 12:00:19 PM

I would not use a 2000w element in a Bradley cabinet...

Meat tooth · October 10, 2011, 12:03:43 PM

If it is 2000 watts, is that rated @ 110V, or 220V?. A 2000 watt 110 volt element will exceed a standard 15A circuit's capacity of 1725 watts. And since the smoker is designed to work on 110 volts, a 220 volt element is out of the question.. So, in a nutshell this is probably not a good idea.

beefmann · October 10, 2011, 12:06:06 PM

due some more research and look at the temp of the element, the voltage .. it may be at 240 volts and require a dedicated circuit. the other issue is a higher element temperature that may lead to a higher chance of fire in the smoker

I would personally not use a 2 kw element in a bradley .. .. 1 kw max is as high as i would go.

Nizztos · October 10, 2011, 12:07:10 PM

Quote from: Meat tooth on October 10, 2011, 12:03:43 PM
If it is 2000 watts, is that rated @ 110V, or 220V?. A 2000 watt 110 volt element will exceed a standard 15A circuit's capacity of 1725 watts. And since the smoker is designed to work on 110 volts, a 220 volt element is out of the question.. So, in a nutshell this is probably not a good idea.

Sorry, forgot that you use 110V on your side of the pond. I have proper ;) 220V coming out of my sockets.

ArnieM · October 10, 2011, 01:07:58 PM

Personally, I wouldn't do it even if it fit.

Nizztos · October 10, 2011, 02:30:06 PM

Looks like it is a no no then.

Will have to look for a smaller one instead then.

Habanero Smoker · October 11, 2011, 02:20:51 AM

Even if you find an oven type element that is small enough and has lower wattage, such as though you can get from electric water smokers. It's still going to be difficult to find the space to install it so the it doesn't interfere with the water bowl or drip tray.

You may be better off adding second element which would give you 1000w or the 900w conversion.

Nizztos · October 11, 2011, 02:27:16 AM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on October 11, 2011, 02:20:51 AM
Even if you find an oven type element that is small enough and has lower wattage, such as though you can get from electric water smokers. It's still going to be difficult to find the space to install it so the it doesn't interfere with the water bowl or drip tray.

You may be better off adding second element which would give you 1000w or the 900w conversion.

Yes, didn't mean to be unclear on that. I will go with a straight element and mount it either instead of the current one, in case of bigger than 500W, or parallell if 500W or less. Will use the guides available for that. Sourcing one will be the main issue. I doubt I can get an original Bradley 500W easily here and shipping + taxes + customs makes importing one from the US a bit on the expensive side.

Habanero Smoker · October 11, 2011, 01:23:19 PM

There are dealers and distributors in the U.K.

Nizztos · October 11, 2011, 01:38:41 PM

Quote from: Habanero Smoker on October 11, 2011, 01:23:19 PM
There are dealers and distributors in the U.K.

We have dealers here in Sweden as well, although I think they use the UK distributors.

However from experience it is a pain to get spare parts from dealers and distributors only sell to dealers. In those instances where I have in the past gotten a positive reply from a dealer the markup has been hefty to say the least. If for instance the element is $25 in the US I would expect to pay $50-$75 here (that includes our 25% VAT though).

Bradley might be the exception though I will have to try.

manxman · October 11, 2011, 03:51:23 PM

I think Grakka UK are the distributor for Europe and it may be worth contacting them direct? I keep a spare element available although I have never had to use it and it was pretty cheap to buy direct although p+p will be a bit more expensive to Sweden.

I always buy direct from Grakka rather than through dealers, they do sell directly to the public and I have always found them very helpful.

I also have a 2kw element bought from a company called Askari but I wouldn't put it in a Bradley, it is for another smoker project I have planned! :)

Nizztos · April 02, 2012, 08:25:58 AM

Reviving my old thread as I got a pleasant surprise today.
I finally decided to try to get the element that I thought would be a pain to find. Found a local store that carries Bradley. They had the elements in stock and to my surprise they were only about $11 ($14 at a straight conversion, but we have a 25% VAT).

mikecorn.1 · April 02, 2012, 12:12:53 PM

Nice score!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

JZ · April 05, 2012, 10:33:25 PM

Super score.

As I understand it, Bradley is a Canadian company and I just bought an element in Canada for $25 plus 12% HST. So you just got the same thing for about 1/2 the price. Way to go.

Can I use a 2kW element?

beefmann